Troubled Texas sex offender agency adds new board member

Published 10:59 pm, Wednesday, April 30, 2014

AUSTIN — Another newcomer has joined the state's embattled Office of Violent Sex Offender Management that one aide to Gov. Rick Perry described as reeling from a "leadership vacuum."

Perry on Wednesday added former prosecutor Katie McClure to the governing board. The agency oversees a state program that monitors high-risk sex offenders and is charged with enhancing public safety.

The agency has come under scrutiny for secretive placement of violent sex offenders and little advance notification to community residents. Its former board chairman resigned last week, saying the workload had grown too heavy for a volunteer position.

Kathy Walt, Perry's chief of staff, told the Houston Chronicle last week that her office has been moving to address management problems at the agency.